Governor
Amy Klobuchar
Democrat
Lisa Demuth
Republican
COST OF LIVING & AFFORDABILITY
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar has been a leading voice in protecting competition in the grocery industry because what happens in the grocery aisle directly affects Minnesota working families. She led a Senate hearing investigating the Kroger-Albertsons merger and worked to block the deal.
Klobuchar introduced the Preventing Algorithmic Collusion Act, which would treat algorithmic price-sharing among competitors as presumptive collusion under antitrust law and direct the FTC to study their competitive effects. She also pressed the FTC directly to investigate surveillance and dynamic pricing practices, including Instacart’s algorithmic pricing tool.
Klobuchar supports raising the payroll cap for incomes above $250,000 to further fund Social Security benefits for seniors. Also supports expanding benefits for widows and those who take time off to care for a sick child or aging family member.
Klobuchar voted against legislation that cut millions of dollars in SNAP funding that families relied on to buy groceries.
Klobuchar: Senate Bill 232, 1/23/25; United States Senator Amy Klobuchar, 2/2/24; United States Senator Amy Klobuchar press release, 12/19/25; Axios, 2/1/24.; United States Senator Amy Klobuchar press release, 12/10/24; Klobuchar: Personal Finance Here’s what top Democratic presidential candidates could say about Social Security at the Iowa debate, CNBC, 01/114/20; U.S. Senate, Roll Call 372, One Big Beautiful Bill Act, HR 1, 119th Cong., 7/1/25
Lisa Demuth
Demuth voted against providing free breakfast and lunch to Minnesota kids.
Demuth has not taken a position on the Kroger-Albertsons merger or surveillance pricing.
Demuth has not taken a position on how to continue to fund Social Security for seniors into the future.
JOBS & WAGES
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar cosponsored the PRO Act to protect workers fighting for fair wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. She also cosponsored bills to protect striking workers, improve workplace safety for health care workers, and end corporate tax breaks for union busting.
Klobuchar has been a consistent proponent of increasing the minimum wage, saying “If we expect to provide people a fair chance in life, it must start with a fair wage.”
Klobuchar supports “providing paid sick days and paid family and medical leave at the federal level so no one has to sacrifice a paycheck for the birth of a child, to care for an elderly parent, or to get treatment for a serious health condition.”
Klobuchar voted against the resolution imposing across-the-board tariffs on Canada and other allies, a direct cost issue for Minnesota’s border economy.
Lisa Demuth
Demuth says one of her party’s most significant disappointments of the 2025 session was failing to roll back Minnesota’s paid family and medical leave program and its earned sick and safe time law: “Those are things that we really wanted to get done … We couldn’t find bipartisan agreement.”
Demuth: Minnesota Reformer, 6/10/25.
Quality Health Care
Amy Klobuchar
Klobuchar voted for the Lower Health Care Costs Act, which would have extended Affordable Care Act subsidies to stop extreme premium increases.
Klobuchar opposed federal cuts that will result in the loss of health coverage for 128,000 Minnesotans. That legislation also limits Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
Lisa Demuth
Demuth’s signature health care achievement as Speaker was repealing MinnesotaCare coverage for undocumented adults.
Demuth’s 2026 budget proposal prioritized compliance with federal legislation that will cause 128,000 Minnesotans to lose health care coverage.
U.S. Senate
Peggy Flanagan
Democrat
Michele Tafoya
Republican
COST OF LIVING & AFFORDABILITY
Peggy Flanagan
Flanagan helped deliver universal school meals in Minnesota — taking breakfast and lunch off the grocery bill for every family in the state with a kid in school — and is running on doing the same thing nationally. Says Minnesotans deserve a senator who will fight to help folks afford the lives they want to live.
Flanagan opposed federal legislation that cut millions of dollars in SNAP funding that families relied on to buy groceries. Committed to fight to reverse cuts to SNAP, WIC and Meals on Wheels so no child or senior goes hungry.
Flanagan wants to expand Social Security rather than cut it, and to pay for it by raising the income cap so high earners contribute on all of their income. Also backs universal childcare, national paid family and medical leave, and an expanded Child Tax Credit. As lieutenant governor, helped deliver Minnesota’s Child Tax Credit — up to $1,750 per child, estimated to cut child poverty by up to a third.
Michele Tafoya
Tafoya told Minnesotans worried about gas prices to keep “a stiff upper lip” and “maybe you take one less trip to Starbucks, so that gas goes a little further.”
Tafoya supports legislation that cut millions of dollars in SNAP funding that families relied on to buy groceries. Almost 16,000 Minnesotans have lost food assistance since July 2025, food shelf demand is setting records, and food prices in Minnesota rose 28% between 2019 and 2024.
Tafoya: People, 3/20/2026; x.com, 7/2/2026; campaign website, Star Tribune 3/4/25.
JOBS & WAGES
Peggy Flanagan
Flanagan co-founded Minnesotans for Paid Family and Medical Leave, worked on it as a legislator, and helped get it done as lieutenant governor — so workers can care for a new baby or a sick parent without losing their paycheck. Wants national paid family and medical leave, and will fight to pass the PRO Act to strengthen the right to organize nationwide.
Michele Tafoya
Tafoya does not support Minnesota’s paid family and medical leave law, claiming there would be “negative consequences for small businesses, employees, and consumers.” Supports a bill that would drive down wages for food and farm workers and turn stable, permanent agricultural jobs into temporary ones.
Quality Health Care
Peggy Flanagan
Flanagan supports expanding access to affordable health care and allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of all prescription drugs. She opposes federal cuts that will result in the loss of health coverage for 10 million Americans, including over 128,000 people in Minnesota..
Flanagan; campaign website;
Michele Tafoya
Tafoya supports legislation that will kick over 128,000 people in Minnesota off their health insurance and put rural hospitals at risk. That legislation also limits Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. She has not put forward a health care plan.
Tafoya: campaign website.
Attorney General
Keith Ellison
Democrat
Ron Schutz
Republican
COST OF LIVING & AFFORDABILITY
Keith Ellison
Ellison runs a public podcast called “Affording Your Life,” built entirely around the cost of living, with episodes on inflation and price gouging, on tariffs and what they do to household costs, and on employer misclassification fraud. His office enforced Minnesota’s price-gouging orders during the pandemic and defended them successfully in court.
Ellison co-led the multistate lawsuit that forced the federal government to keep SNAP benefits flowing to help families buy groceries during the government shutdown.
Ellison signed the bipartisan 16-state attorney general letter asking federal regulators to write a new rule against surveillance pricing — companies using your personal data, like your location, income or shopping history, to charge you a different price than the shopper next to you for the same item. The letter also asked the FTC to extend its junk-fee rule to food delivery apps.
Ron Schutz
Schutz has not commented on cost of living issues, including surveillance pricing and price gouging.
Schutz has no position on surveillance pricing, personalized pricing, or delivery-app fees.
Schutz: Campaign website (‘Priorities’); Schutz: Campaign website (‘Priorities’).
JOBS & WAGES
Keith Ellison
Six months into his first term, Ellison created the Attorney General’s first-ever Wage Theft Division, and in 2023 doubled it — two more lawyers and another investigator. He publishes a “Working for Workers” report every year around Labor Day, laying out what the office recovered. His reason: “It is hard to afford your life and live with dignity if your boss is stealing money right out of your paycheck.”
Ellison won a settlement from Shipt, the Target-owned delivery company, alleging it misclassified its workers as independent contractors and cut them out of overtime, local minimum-wage protections and sick-and-safe-time — and left them ineligible for unemployment and workers’ comp. Also settled with a construction contractor accused of threatening workers and telling them to lie to state regulators during a wage theft investigation.
Ron Schutz
Schutz has not commented on job and wages issues.
Quality Health Care
Keith Ellison
Ellison defended Minnesota’s emergency insulin law against a challenge from the drug industry and helped drive the cost of insulin down to $35. Has gone after opioid manufacturers, bringing millions into the state for treatment, and joined multistate suits against drug corporations for artificially inflating prices. He helped block a hospital merger that would have reduced rural access to quality health care.
Ellison: Campaign website (‘About’); Minnesota Attorney General press release, 1/27/25; Minnesota Attorney General press release, 5/1/26.
Ron Schutz
Schutz has not commented on health care issues, including drug pricing or rural health care access.
Schutz: Campaign website (‘Priorities’).
Congressional District 1
Jake Johnson
Democrat
Brad Finstad
Republican
COST OF LIVING & AFFORDABILITY
Jake Johnson
Johnson supports building more housing, expanding childcare, and cutting taxes. He opposes policies that have driven up gas prices for working families.
Johnson: Priorities,” accessed 9/7/26, JakeJohnsonforCongress.com; “Taxpayer protection pledge,” accessed 9/10/26, JakeJohnsonforCongress.com.
Brad Finstad
Finstad supports policies that have driven up gas prices for working families.
Finstad: U.S. House, Roll Call 85, Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to remove United States Armed Forces from unauthorized hostilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran, H.Con.Res. 38, 119th Cong., 3/5/26, Congress.gov.
QUALITY HEALTH CARE
Jake Johnson
Johnson supports reversing federal cuts to rural healthcare that have contributed to the closure of four rural health clinics in the district, saying they made him “furious.” He supports expanding affordable, accessible health insurance options.
Johnson: “Can Jake Johnson pull off an upset in Minnesota’s1st,” 5/30/26, PostBulletin.com; “Minnesota progressives campaign on ‘Medicare for all’ as ranks of uninsured grow,” 7/21/26, MinnPost.com; “Johnson ‘furious’ about ‘big, beautiful bill’,” 6/11/25, NUJournal.com.
Brad Finstad
Finstad voted for federal cuts that will result in the loss of health coverage for 10 million Americans, including nearly 15,000 people in his district, and put rural hospitals at risk. That legislation also limits Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower prescription drug prices.
Finstad: U.S. House, Roll Call 190, One Big Beautiful Bill Act, HR 1, 119th Cong., 7/3/25, Congress.gov.
SUPPORT FOR WORKERS
Jake Johnson
Johnson criticized a recent USDA-proposed rule to increase line speeds for meatpacking workers. He slammed the decision, saying it will put meatpacking workers at risk of increased injuries in the name of profit for CEOs.
Johnson: “Jake Johnson criticizes USDA for dangerous line speed proposal,” 3/9/26, JakeJohnson.com.
Brad Finstad
Finstad cosponsored a bill that would drive down wages for food and farm workers and turn stable, permanent agricultural jobs into temporary ones.
Finstad: U.S. House, SecuringAgriculture’s Workforce Act of 2026, HR 9535, 119th Cong., 6/30/26, Congress.gov.
Congressional District 2
Matt Little
Democrat
Eric Pratt
Republican
COST OF LIVING & AFFORDABILITY
Matt Little
Under Little’s leadership as mayor, Lakeville led the state in single-family home development. He has also called for expanding the Child Care Tax Credit and cracking down on corporations that price-gouge consumers. He also supports raising the cap on Social Security, which will lead to more benefits for seniors.
Little: Matt Little, 4/28/26, Facebook.com; “Senator Matt Little,” accessed 9/8/26, SenateDFL.MN; “Fighting for affordable childcare,” accessed 9/8/26, LittleForCongress.com; “Fighting for Social Security,” accessed 9/15/26, LittleForCongress.com.
Eric Pratt
Pratt voted against a bill that would have capped annual rent increases at 3% for some manufactured-home residents, calling it“ de facto rent control.” He also voted against legislation that created a new Child Tax Credit and cut taxes on Social Security benefits.
Pratt: Minnesota Senate, SF 2691, 94th Legislature (2026 Regular Session), 4/21/26, Revisor.MN.gov; Minnesota Senate, HF 1938, 93rd Legislature (2023 Regular Session), 5/21/23, Revisor.MN.gov; “Minnesota’s manufactured homeowners bill of rights,” 4/21/26, Fox9.com.
QUALITY HEALTH CARE
Matt Little
Little has called for expanding Medicare’s ability to negotiate lower prices on most prescription drugs. He introduced bills in the Minnesota Senate to require insurance coverage for hearing aids and ban prescription drug ads on the radio and TV, which can drive up costs for patients.
Little: “Fighting for healthcare,” accessed 9/8/26, LittleForCongress.com; Minnesota Senate, SF 1182, 91st Legislature (2019 Regular Session), 2/14/19, Revisor.MN.gov; MinnesotaSenate, SF 811, 91st Legislature (2019 Regular Session), 2/4/19, Revisor.MN.gov.
Eric Pratt
As a state senator, Pratt voted against legislation to help reduce costs by creating a Drug Price Affordability Board, which would work to lower prescription drug prices for Minnesotans. That legislation also banned price gouging during emergencies.
Pratt: Minnesota Senate, SF 2744,93rd Legislature (2023 Regular Session), 5/16/23, Revisor.MN.gov.
SUPPORT FOR WORKERS
Matt Little
Little supports protecting the right of workers to fight for fair wages, better benefits, and safer workplaces. As a state senator, he authored bills to provide workers with earned sick leave and paid family leave.
Little: Minnesota Senate, SF 1597, 91st Legislature (2019 Regular Session), 2/21/19, Revisor.MN.gov; Minnesota Senate, SF 1060, 91st Legislature(2019 Regular Session), 2/11/19, Revisor.MN.gov; “Fighting for lower prices & an economy that works for everyone,” accessed 9/8/26, LittleForCongress.com.
Eric Pratt
Pratt has repeatedly introduced bills to limit workers’ access to paid leave and earned sick time.
Pratt: Minnesota Senate, SF 4862, 94th Legislature (2026 Regular Session), 3/25/26, Revisor.MN.gov; Minnesota Senate, SF 4127, 94th Legislature (2026 RegularSession), 3/4/26, Revisor.MN.gov; Minnesota Senate, SF 947, 94th Legislature (2025 Regular Session), 2/3/25, Revisor.MN.gov; Minnesota Senate, SF 3645, 94th Legislature (2026 Regular Session), 2/19/26, Revisor.MN.gov.